Murder Story of Sirotino Jews in Gniloi Most

... This day arrived in December [1941]. Armed fascists were posted around the ghetto. One day, I do not remember the date, at midday, panic broke out: it became clear that the end was coming. People rushed all around, they went mad. I told my mother firmly that under no circumstances would I give myself up alive. I would try to escape by any means. My mind was working rapidly on its own. I even tried to escape with one of my little brothers, but in vain. While running along a ditch around the Jewish cemetery I was noticed by SS men. A warning shot and the cry "Halt, zurueck!" forced us to turn back. My mother saw me rushing about. She cried, but did not oppose my actions. Then, half naked, I hid in the attic. It was cold and I almost choked when I tried to chew a piece of dry bread crust. There I discovered two of the Staroselskiy girls, who were sitting in the corner like little animals surrounded by beasts of prey. I was shaking from fear and the cold but my desire to live helped. In the house itself terror reigned. There were screams, crying, and the fascists were shouting: "Los, raus!" With their rifle butts they were pushing outside people who were exhausted and terrified to death. In this terrible din I did not hear mother's voice. It was already evening and the shouting gradually died down. It became dark and quiet. Then shooting from automatic weapons resounded. That was the end....

... The end was ... a sandy road leading to the grave. I do not remember which of the girls survived by chance and, at night, crawled out [of the grave].... She was discovered on the road and murdered. She was murdered by being hit over the head with a club by Gavriil Borovik or Pyotr Burchyonok. There were many murderers there. Thus, there was not one, but more than 200 Sirotino tragedies....

... There were two sisters, one is now living in Luga. She is married to a Russian and no one except her husband knows that she is Jewish. On the eve of the shooting in Sirotino the mayor came to them and warned them: "tomorrow you will be shot." He apparently warned them in secret, and only them. The mother hid their daughters in the attic and pushed away the ladder. The Germans came and took away the mother; then they searched the house to see if anyone else was there... The mother was shot; they [the daughters] waited until night and then left for the forest.... During the shooting in Sirotino one 16 year-old girl grasped her mother's hand. The mother was hit but the daughter was not. When the mother fell into the grave, the daughter fell in with her even though she was still alive. As always, the Germans completed the shooting and left, sending the policemen to bury [the bodies]. The policemen were our own local men, we knew them. One girl stood up and said: "Uncle, I am alive, don't bury [me]." The policeman hit her over the head with a crowbar....